General preparation information, not official recruitment criteria. Confirm arrangements with the recruiting organisation and review professional reasoning with an experienced colleague. Practice scores do not predict recruitment outcomes.
Show a realistic understanding of O&G
Use experiences from clinical exposure, teaching or wider learning to explain your interest in obstetrics and gynaecology. Reflect on the variety of the work and the importance of communication, teamwork and training support.
Describe what you learnt rather than presenting a list of courses or memberships. Reading a report can inform reflection, but it is not evidence that you led change. Connect your interests to development needs and check the current curriculum.
- What did your exposure teach you about the specialty?
- Which skills do you want to develop during training?
Practise prioritisation as spoken reasoning
In a simulated multiple-patient exercise, explain what information you need, the concern that affects priority and how you would involve colleagues within your role. Review the clinical reasoning with a supervisor.
Changing information should change the explanation where appropriate. Avoid assuming every scenario is obstetric or that a rehearsed sequence fits every problem. This guide does not provide management steps for a real patient.
- Give reasons, not just an ordered list.
- Explain how new information affects your thinking.
- Recognise the need for appropriate support.
Connect respectful communication to real examples
Prepare a true example of listening, responding to feedback or working across a team. For an improvement project, describe your contribution and evidence of change without taking credit for others’ work.
Patient-safety reports and professional resources can help you reflect on systems and communication. Use them to identify questions for further learning, not to make broad claims about a service you have not worked in.
- Avoid identifying patient details.
- Acknowledge what did not work or remains uncertain.
- Explain what you changed after feedback.
Build a practice-and-review routine
Confirm the current interview arrangements in your invitation and official applicant information. The themes in this guide are preparation topics, not a forecast of the questions or an official marking scheme. Avoid relying on an old document for eligibility, evidence requirements or timings.
Answer one rehearsal question aloud, then review whether you answered the question, explained your own role and acknowledged uncertainty. Ask a supervisor or experienced colleague to check professional reasoning. Remove identifying patient and colleague details; never upload clinical records. Practice scores describe rehearsal only and do not predict recruitment outcomes.
- Read the current person specification and applicant guidance.
- Choose real examples and record the limits of the evidence.
- Practise a follow-up, not just the opening answer.
- Review with an experienced colleague before relying on the material.
Your next practice task
Choose one teamwork example and one improvement example. Rehearse the aim, your contribution, the outcome and a learning point without using a written script.
Questions to rehearse
- What experience strengthened your interest in O&G?
- How did you respond to feedback from a colleague?
- How would you revise your priorities when new information appears in a rehearsal?
Original free rehearsal prompts, not official or recalled interview questions.
Sources and further reading
These sources support the broader preparation and professional context, not a universal scoring scheme. Check the latest official guidance for your own round and post; dated documents may have been superseded.